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31st May 2007 Archive

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  • Glory fades on Novell's Microsoft deal

    From black to red

    Novel has turned a year-ago profit into loss as the impact from its controversial distribution and patent protection deal with Microsoft fades. The vendor reported a $2.2m loss, down from a $3.5m profit, on revenue that increased 2.5 per cent to $239m, with a loss per diluted share of one cent - down from a one cent profit. …

    Financial News 31 May 2007, 00:18

  • EU OK's Welsh Assembly Wi-Fi

    Prague OK too, with modifications

    The EU has ruled that Wi-Fi deployments in Wales and Prague do not constitute state aid, as neither will compete with commercial hotspot deployments. The Welsh Assembly's deployment is only intended for use by public sector organisations, so hardly something The Cloud or their ilk have to be concerned about. The intention is …

    Public Sector 31 May 2007, 07:02

  • 'Brown should rethink EU proposal on VAT'

    Could be open season for fraudsters

    Gordon Brown has been warned that plans to simplify VAT rules will severely impair the European Union's ongoing battle against tax fraud. In a letter to the Prime Minister in-waiting the International VAT Association (IVA) has urged Brown to reconsider the "B2B" (business to business) proposal on Europe's escalating VAT fraud …

    Channel Register 31 May 2007, 07:02

  • CD WOW! vows to take £35m High Court defeat to Europe

    'We make tiny margins on our goods and it is the consumer who benefits'

    CD WOW!, the British online music retailer, will continue its legal fight against the music industry despite a £35m award against it in the UK courts this week. The firm says that it will take the battle to the European Court of Justice if it can. Trade body the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) took a case against CD WOW! …

    Channel Register 31 May 2007, 07:02

  • Hot babes cruise planet Google

    Viva Street View and Viva Las Vegas!

    It didn't take you lot long to find something noteworthy on Google Maps' new Street View facility - now offering ground-level, photographic panoramas of Denver, Las Vegas, Miami, and New York. Yup, we're very much obliged to Jay Graham for this splendid view of Nevada's finest: Sadly, we can't bring you a direct link to the …

    Bootnotes 31 May 2007, 08:38

  • Westminster street lamp pay-back cut to 750 years

    Now just £15m to save £20k a year

    Someone owes Westminster City Council an apology: the amortisation period on its new planet-saving street lamps is not, as we reported yesterday, an astounding 1,450 years, but a rather more modest 750 years. To recap, the borough is upgrading all of its street lighting to incorporate new £1,000-a-hit Furyo Lanterns. This will …

    Public Sector 31 May 2007, 08:40

  • Eircom to slash up to 400 jobs

    Cost-cutting move not unexpected

    Telecoms operator Eircom has confirmed it is to seek job cuts before the end of the year. Reports on Wednesday claimed that up to 400 jobs could go at Eircom in the cost-cutting exercise after chief executive Rex Comb told the Irish Times the board was mulling over the prospect. A spokesperson for the company said the board …

    Networks 31 May 2007, 09:54

  • Dixons Store Group loses head

    Clare to retire in September

    Dixons Store Group (DSG) is losing its long-serving chief executive John Clare. Clare will leave the firm after the annual general meeting on 5 September. He is retiring after 22 years with the retailer, which included 13 as its chief executive. When Clare took over as chief exec in 1994 the main brands were PC World and The …

    Channel Register 31 May 2007, 10:07

  • Data protection watchdogs' letter to Google goes public

    Questions length of storage time before anonymisation

    A letter from an influential group of privacy experts in Europe saying that Google's new privacy policies appear to breach the requirements of the EU's data protection regime was published today. Previously, Google operated a policy of retaining search queries and identifying information, such as Internet Protocol (IP) …

    Law 31 May 2007, 10:09

  • Doctor Who faces extermination

    Time's up

    Doctor Who will reportedly be exterminated next year after the end of the fourth season of the revived series. Producer Russell T. Davies has decided to bring the hit sci-fi show to a close so he can concentrate on other projects, The Sun reports . The paper adds that Davies and other senior staff are feeling the strain of the …

    Entertainment 31 May 2007, 10:22

  • Security analogies: the key to educating laymen

    Comment Explaining tech concepts to the masses

    The following is a written version of a speech I gave at The Open Solutions Summit (AKA LinuxWorld NY) in New York City in February. It's long, but I think you will find it interesting. If you want to get to the website I announced, jump to the last section. I'm not a sports guy, by any means. I leave that up to my brother, …

    Security 31 May 2007, 10:54

  • Jobs waves iPhone, talks applications

    June launch still go

    Steve Jobs revealed a little more about Apple's iPhone at the All Things Digital conference, promising the much-awaited device will hit its June deadline, and talking up the possibility of third-party applications. Interviewed by Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal, Jobs waved around his own handset and proudly declared …

    Mobile 31 May 2007, 10:57

  • Vodafone data bundle pricing slips out

    120MB a month for £7.50...ho hum

    When Vodafone announced it would be bringing in new pricing on 1 June, a data bundle was mentioned, but no details were to be made available until the launch. Now it seems the details have slipped out on Vodafone's website, and it's an unremarkable offer. Customers will be able to sign up for the data pack at £7.50 a month, …

    Mobile 31 May 2007, 10:59

  • Another day, another UK newspaper website goes down

    Today's failure: The Independent

    The Independent newspaper's website fell over early this morning and is still struggling to get back on its feet. Visitors to the site are currently met with the following message: "The site is down for a short while for essential maintenance. We apologise for any inconvenience and hope to return within 30 minutes at the …

    IT Director 31 May 2007, 11:10

  • Motorola lays off another 4,000

    RAZR phones fail to slice into new markets

    Motorola has announced another round of layoffs - 4,000 to add to the 3,500 jobs it slashed in January. The first lot are on schedule to be off the premises by the end of June, while the new round will take until the end of the year to clear their desks. The cuts are an attempt to get the company back into profitability. …

    Mobile 31 May 2007, 11:12

  • US Stingray style sub motherships test missiles

    But SEALs' ritzy mini-sub slated for defects, cost overruns

    The US Navy's Stingray-esque SSGN underwater special-forces motherships have seen good news and bad news in recent days. SSGN launching missiles SSGNs* are heavily modified Ohio class ballistic-missile boats, retired from their old duties under the terms of nuclear-weapons limitation treaties. The nuclear-propelled subs …

    Hardware 31 May 2007, 11:14

  • eBay makes another baffling buy

    StumbleUpon snapped up

    Online auction house eBay has confirmed it has bought StumbleUpon, the website which offers user-created reviews and recommendations of other websites. eBay is paying about $75m for the site which claims 2.3 million regular users. The push behind the deal seems to be that Web 2.0 doozy "community". Michael Buhr, senior …

    Business 31 May 2007, 11:17

  • World fails to implode during Gates-Jobs gagfest

    We led as two kings

    We were expecting to wake up to technological armageddon this morning, following the endlessly trailed public meeting of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates at the All Things Digital conference (D5) near San Diego last night. No such luck: instead of kicking off the final battle for dominion over the universe, the billionaires traded …

    Software 31 May 2007, 11:38

  • Finding missing galaxies: Spitzer triumphs again

    No word on how they were lost

    NASA's Spitzer observatory has logged more than 1,000 previously unknown dwarf galaxies hiding out in a giant cluster of galaxies. Using data from the infrared observatory, a team led by Leigh Jenkins and Ann Hornschemeier, both at NASA Space Flight Centre, was able to resolve many galaxies that are too faint for other …

    Space 31 May 2007, 12:32

  • EU on web-terror: Something must be done

    I didn't get a 'harrumph' out of that guy ...

    EU ambassadors have agreed on a draft statement regarding "cooperation to combat terrorist use of the internet". Justice and Interior ministers are expected to endorse the document in June. The EU draft text (which can be downloaded here [pdf]), lays out conclusions regarding the so-called "Check the Web", initiative launched …

    Government 31 May 2007, 12:34

  • Google Gears up for offline web apps

    Steps on Microsoft's toes...again

    Google has poked its fingers into the offline web application pie with today's launch of browser add-on Gears. The search engine behemoth marked out clear intentions to enter territory dominated by Microsoft by offering free, open source technology that works without an internet connection. Gears will run online and offline …

    Applications 31 May 2007, 12:38

  • Sharp Aquos LC37XD1E 37in HD TV

    Review There's high-definition and then there's high-definition

    There's HD and then there's full HD. While both will give you better pictures than normal TV, the latter offers a degree of future proofing by enabling you to take advantage of 1080p, the highest HD resolution currently in use. With both Blu-ray and HD DVD supporting it, you'll need a Full HD TV such as Sharp's LC37XD1E to …

    Reg Hardware 31 May 2007, 12:40

  • Sex.com: read it if you dare

    Book review A tale of evil from the early days of the internet

    OK, I'm going to let you in on some of the secrets of how the internet was built. No? OK. So, let's see: It's about the American legal system and how it can crush innocent...still not interested? How about the growth, and theft, of the pioneering porn site, SEX.COM? Yes, web porn, the inside dope. Ah, thought that might get …

    Entertainment 31 May 2007, 13:03

  • Channel carousel sees resellers, execs change places

    To subscribe to Channel Register's weekly newsletter - seven days of channel news in a single hit - click here.

    Microsoft laid its cards on the table - or its pictures at any rate - with the announcement of its table-top computer technology, dubbed Surface Computing. The top secret technology uses IR cameras to recognise and identify objects when they are placed on the table top which is also a 30-inch back-projected screen for a built- …

    Channel Register 31 May 2007, 13:29

  • iTunes Plus - plus user details that is

    DRM-free tracks can be traced to original owner

    Apple's much touted DRM-free music download service launched yesterday under the moniker iTunes Plus. But apparently such freedom comes at a price as the computer giant failed to highlight one important point: customers using iTunes Plus will have their username and email address embedded in each DRM-free track they download. …

    Music and Media 31 May 2007, 13:48

  • New theory for sun's ring of fire

    Sound, not Johnny Cash, responsible

    Scientists have proposed a new mechanism to explain the so-called ring of fire that is visible around the sun during a full solar eclipse. Previously it was thought that the photosphere, the sun's visible surface, trapped the sound waves that bound around its interior. But the research (presented at the American Astronomical …

    Space 31 May 2007, 14:51

  • Spam King arrested in Seattle

    Grand jury indictments

    A 27-year-old man, dubbed the Spam King by investigators, has been arrested in Seattle where he has been indicted on charges of mail fraud, wire fraud, fraud in connection with electronic mail, and money laundering. Robert Alan Soloway owned Newport Internet Marketing Corporation (NIM) based in Seattle. He will appear before …

    Crime 31 May 2007, 14:56

  • Apple TV gets 160GB HDD

    Oh, and you can access YouTube on it too

    Apple, it seems, is hell bent on making this new foray a success and consequently has announced a build-to-order 160GB version - four times the capacity of the existing version that soon-to-be-very-cross customers have forked out for up until now. Current pricing details put this at around £269 ($399), a mere £70 more than …

    Reg Hardware 31 May 2007, 15:03

  • Facial drones spot passport frauds

    UK.gov's own facebook

    The Passport Office has stopped 600 fraudulent passport applications using a facial recognition system it rolled out as a pilot across its fraud units last year. The Identity and Passport Service has since deemed the trial a success and, having built a database of mugshots belonging to around 25,000 known fraudsters, has …

    Government 31 May 2007, 15:16

  • Dell's channel shake-up ripples across to Europe

    'Not an open system'

    Dell is considering an authorised resellers program for Europe, after taking the plunge into the channel in the US. "We haven't made any decisions yet, but Dell in general is entering a more differentiated strategy, in which the company will respond more directly to customer needs," Rainer Von Mielecki, communications …

    Channel Register 31 May 2007, 15:30

  • Larry Lessig in the lion's den

    CISAC Net guru takes on the authors: Love is just another lawsuit

    Professor Lawrence Lessig is used to hostile audiences - but he faced the most prickly and feisty gathering of 500 he'll ever address yesterday in Brussels. CISAC is the body that represents the collectives who gather up the royalties on behalf of authors, composers and songwriters - and this week it's holding its first ever …

    Law 31 May 2007, 15:45

  • The Linux programmer's toolbox

    Book review Hope for those developers not raised on the Linux command line

    Linux, like the other *nix platforms, has a reputation of being a good environment for developers. In fact, Linux and hacking – in the original sense of the word – seem to go hand in hand, so much so that some commentators still find it hard to conceive of it as anything but a server and/or development platform. Whether the …

    Developer 31 May 2007, 15:48

  • Google ducks angry authors

    CISAC Misses opportunity to enlighten

    Google gave a keynote speech to the biggest global gathering of authors' societies today. The internet advertising giant is embroiled in several areas of copyright litigation. Publishers and authors object to its mass scanning project, Google Books. News agencies and publishers have sued it over its use of links and excerpts in …

    Law 31 May 2007, 15:53

  • DARPA to create brain-chipped cyborg moths

    Looking to bug al-Qaeda

    Famed US military mad-scientist bureau DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) is engaged in an effort to grow/build cyborg moths for use as spies. No, really. The program is called Hybrid Insect Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems, or HI-MEMS. In it, the arguably over-caffeined DARPA boffins aim to construct a …

    Science 31 May 2007, 16:11

  • DHS calls in sci-fi writers as consultants

    You couldn't make it up - maybe they can

    The feds at the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have this week called in some self-described "deviant" consultants to aid them in the battle against terrorists, illegal immigrants, smugglers et al. The deviants in question are a group of science fiction writers, namely Jerry Pournelle, Arlan Andrews, Greg Bear, Larry …

    Government 31 May 2007, 16:17

  • PC Tools snags behaviour protection tech

    You know I'm no good

    Anti-spyware firm PC Tools has announced a deal to buy behavioural protection security technology from developer Novatix for an unspecified amount. Novatix’s flagship product, Cyberhawk, along with its development team will join PC Tools. Cyberhawk developers will remain in their Boulder, Colorado facility, which becomes PC …

    Security 31 May 2007, 16:19

  • Clarity lacks, er, clarity over CEO

    'Should I stay or should I go now'

    Software vendor Clarity Commerce Solutions has been getting itself in a spin over the future of its CEO Graham York. The firm has made two U-turns in the space of 48 hours, according to today's Financial Times. York had agreed to step down last week after angry shareholders demanded that senior management make changes at the …

    Financial News 31 May 2007, 17:46

  • Tories appoint former tabloid editor as chief spin doctor

    Untainted by Royal phone-tap resignation

    The Conservatives have appointed former News of the World editor Andy Coulson, who resigned after his paper was embroiled in a royal phone-tapping scandal, as its new director of communications. Coulson, 39, quit from the UK's biggest selling paper in January after its royal affairs editor confessed to intercepting voice mail …

    Government 31 May 2007, 18:01

  • Whale rescue hotline hacked

    45-ton mother and calf 'put down', trolls falsely claim

    Even a pair of stranded whales and the legions of people dedicated to saving them aren't safe from trolls, it seems. A telephone hotline established to allow individuals to leave comments about the two whales, which were stranded in California's Sacramento River, was breached by unknown trouble makers, who left an outgoing …

    Security 31 May 2007, 18:12

  • Joost views ex-Cisco prodigy as CEO

    I want my Volpi TV

    Joost is wooing former Cisco senior executive Mike Volpi to take the reins as CEO of the online video service, according to reports. Volpi was formerly heir presumptive for Cisco's CEO spot, but left the company earlier this year, citing personal reasons. Many assume his departure was spurred by a desire to head a company — …

    Telecoms 31 May 2007, 18:36

  • Fedora 7 suppresses Red Hat separation anxiety

    So communal it hurts

    Fedora developers have performed a catch and release with their beloved operating system, unleashing today the final cut of Fedora 7. The new OS loses some of its sex appeal in that the Fedora team has focused more on form than function. For example, the "Core" designation (Fedora Core 5, Fedora Core 6) has been dropped from …

    Servers 31 May 2007, 19:53

  • Dell cheers Q1 with workforce decimation

    2.0 - 8,000 = more money

    Dell will decimate its workforce over the next year, eliminating more than 8,000 jobs. The company released word of this restructuring as it dished out first quarter financial results that beat market expectations. Reinstalled CEO Michael Dell vowed to make cuts during a recent interview, saying Dell's headcount has grown by …

    Financial News 31 May 2007, 20:55

  • MySQL warns Microsoft on open source credibilty

    Stick to the knitting

    Microsoft must work with, not against, open source otherwise it risks sacrificing developer support and credibility among customers - even Windows loyalists. That's according to the chief executive of a fast growing open source competitor to Microsoft's popular, but closed-source, SQL Server database. Marten Mickos, MySQL …

    Applications 31 May 2007, 21:01

  • Brocade and Mercury rain cash on SEC to settle charges

    Don't mention the stock

    Brocade and Mercury Interactive have coughed up $35m between them to settle charges they deliberately flouted SEC rules by falsifying dates of stock option grants. Mercury is stumping up $28m to settle civil fraud charges brought today by the US Securities and Exchange Commission against it and four former executives for the …

    Financial News 31 May 2007, 22:37

  • OpenSolaris fans in a tizzy over 'Project Copy Linux'

    Distro dysfunction junction

    Sun Microsystems has moved one mailing list posting closer to explaining how it plans to mimic the Linux distribution model with OpenSolaris. Developer Glynn Foster, seen here molesting a beer, has described Sun's so-called "Project Indiana" in mostly coherent detail. Sun plans to back a more elaborate delivery mechanism for …

    Servers 31 May 2007, 23:14

  • Brocade barges into HBA market

    Flashes Silverback at Emulex and QLogic

    Brocade intends to muscle in on more of the networking market by expanding its product catalog to include host bus adapters (HBAs) and intelligent server adapters. The networking equipment maker announced today a low power consumption iSCSI adapter, a line of Fibre Channel adapters and plans for high-performance intelligent …

    Data Networking 31 May 2007, 23:16

  • Freescale scales back staff

    Frees up thousands of pink slips

    Texas semiconductor manufacturer Freescale is cutting jobs across the company as part of a strategy to reduce costs during a sluggish year. While a Freescale representative declined to provide details on the cuts, a source tells The Register that up to 10 per cent of Freescale's workforce was eliminated yesterday, including …

    Financial News 31 May 2007, 23:30